Must Get Out
by leonsgirl47625
Summary: Try to guide me in the right direction. Making use of all this time. Keeping everything inside. Close my eyes and listen to you cry. CLC Slightly Cloudcentric.


**A/N **Hola! Welcome to my newest fanfic. Or songfic, if you want to call it that. This is the first time I've tried to write a songfic so I hope you guys like it. :P

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Cloud in all of his SOLDIER-y goodness, nor do I own Squall in all of his angsty goodness. I don't own any of the characters. :(

** 1. I'm Lifting You Up**

"_I've been the needle and the thread  
Weaving figure eights and circles round your head  
I try to laugh but cry instead  
Patiently wait to hear the words you've never said"_

Getting ready was always the hardest part. He didn't necessarily _care_ about the way he looked, but he still didn't want to look bad. And the fact that it was the first day of senior year didn't make it any easier. Jeans would probably look best, but it was warm outside, so he'd most likely end up wearing shorts, which he despised. He figured a regular shirt would be too plain for today (based off of the assumption that everyone else would be somewhat dressed up) so it was either dress shirt or polo. Dress shirt was also out of the question.

He felt like a girl, worrying over clothes like this, and finally decided on a black polo and dark wash jeans – he might be a little warm, but he'd look nice. Well, decent at least. He stole a glance at his alarm clock and grabbed the clothes from his cluttered closet. He threw them at his ill-made bed. They landed on the edge and slid off, falling into a small pile on the wooden floor.

He ignored them and entered the bathroom on his left. He fiddled mindlessly with the knobs until water jutted out. While he waited for it to warm he slid the glass of only window in the small room upwards until it clicked into place and a gentle breeze blew. He closed the blinds and stripped before stepping into the now hot stream of water. Pellets of water rained down and steam radiated to the ceiling in spirals and wispy, nameless shapes. It helped to relax his tense muscles: a product of yet another nearly sleepless night chockfull of nightmares.

But right now, in _this _moment that didn't matter. What mattered was he only had a limited time before the hot water ran out, so he quickly washed his hair and dragged a bar of soap over his taunt muscles. He took a moment to calm his still racing pulse from the night interrupted by the unwelcome silver-haired man. Leaning his head against the cool tile of the shower he slowly started to count backwards from 60.

Once his sixty-seconds were up he turned the water off and grabbed a towel from the rack behind him and wrapped it around his waist. He took another and wiped down the fogged mirror above his vanity. The opaque film gradually dissipated and Cloud pulled his brows together at the sight of his uneven blonde hair hanging lifelessly against his pale cheeks.

He picked up a rather large bottle of hair gel and squeezed a bit more then the recommended amount into his hand, then sporadically worked it into his hair. He tucked his chin against his chest and waited for the gel to harden before he whipped his head back, sending the chunks of hair every which way. Just the way he liked it, although he hadn't gotten a haircut all summer, and was in desperate need of one.

Cloud returned to his room and went back to standing in front of his closet, but this time he knew what he wanted. He reached down and yanked open one of the drawers of the large, gray cabinet wedged to the side. He pulled out a pair of light blue boxers and a gray undershirt and put them on. Allowing time for his hair to set he went downstairs to kitchen to prepare his breakfast.

Cloud pulled the fridge doors apart and an artificial glow illuminated the food. He scanned it briefly. Nothing he wanted. But he wasn't too hungry—he could just swing by Starbucks and get something. He returned to his room and got dressed, then he went back downstairs, got his messenger bag, wallet, and keys and left.

His school, Destiny Islands High, wasn't too far away. Just right off of the interstate, about five miles from his apartment. He drove the short drive with the radio of his '83 Mercedes convertible blasting until he reached his exit. He took a quick stop at the Starbucks across the street from DIH and then proceeded to drive into the semi-crowed parking lot.

Cloud was a little uncomfortable as he walked from his car to the main building. He wasn't sure if it was because of the polo (which he decided almost immediately after parking wasn't exactly his _style_ and would probably never wear one again,) the jeans in the mid-morning heat, or the first-day-back-nerves. Whatever it was, he ignored it.

The school was the same as he remembered it to be. Two gigantic doors opened to a stuffed cougar in a glass case, with a plaque hanging on it proudly proclaiming that _The Valiant Destiny Island Cougars – first in the football championships since 1993! _Cloud had always wondered how they'd been able to hold the title, or rather how they'd been able to pass the required steroids test. But he would never bring this up. He _did _live in a small town and high school football was everything.

The wall behind the cougar bore a mural of a cougar kingly perched a top a mountain, growling to the sun. Assorted pictures of football players and teachers of the year past were sporadically placed along the wall.

Two hallways veered off on either side of the mural. The corridor on the left contained mostly freshman, sophomore and elective classrooms. To the right were the junior, senior and foreign language classrooms. The second floor housed the cafeteria, gym and locker rooms. In the basement was the diving well.

Cloud hitched up his bag slightly and turned down the right hallway. After he took several paces he heard his name. He looked up.

"_Cloud Strife! _Why did you not even attempt to keep in touch with me over the summer!"

He groaned out of habit. "Sorry Aeris," he mumbled once she was next to him. "I had to get a job to pay for the damn apartment."

She laughed slightly. "You should have just stayed with Cid."

He pulled his eyebrows together. No answer was needed.

He had only been 12 when both of his parents passed away in a car crash, and after that his uncle Cid had gotten custody of him. Ever since then he had been desperate to get out. Cloud liked him, that wasn't the problem; it was just that Cid was the football coach and thought Cloud should be on the team. When he turned sixteen he was legally able to inherit his parent's money and that was when he decided he was going to move out. Last April he turned 18 and bought the apartment.

He hadn't _really_needed the job, but it was something to keep him busy, and he needed _that_.

Aeris breathed exasperatedly. "Well I missed you, Cloud," she admitted.

"Uh. I missed you too?" He said, it sounding more of a question then a statement.

"Look out," she warned.

"Huh? What—," but before he could finish someone rammed into him and held on tightly, nearly sending him to the floor.

"Cloud! I missed you! Why didn't you call! You're an asshole you know that?"

He couldn't help but laugh at the small girl. "Hey Yuffie. Sorry, I got a job and didn't call anyone. Ask Aeris."

She looked to Aeris, who nodded. "Had to pay for his apartment."

"Well congratulations! You're a grown man now. All you need is a girlfriend…" She snickered. I hear Tifa's single. And why the hell does your shirt have a collar?"

"Yeah," Aeris chimed in. "Are you trying to _impress _someone?" She briefly squeezed his bicep. "You've been working out! You are trying to impress someone."

"Its Tifa isn't it!"

"I joined a gym."

Yuffie looked at him incredulously. "Why?"

Cloud shrugged. "I needed to build up some muscle."

She clicked her tongue impatiently. "Yeah. I figured that much. But why did you need to build up some muscle?"

"For my job," he shrugged.

"Which was what?" Yuffie was practically shaking with excitement.

"Calm down." He waited a moment before continuing. "Golf instructor," he mumbled.

Yuffie and Aeris practically snorted. "_Golf instructor?" _Aeris managed to say between giggles.

"For kids under eight."

This time it took the girls a longer time to regain their composure. Yuffie was the first to speak. "Did you wear plaid shorts?" She snorted.

'_I need to get better friends.' _Cloud thought to himself.

"Yeah. And the kids' moms' thought they looked hot."

That shut them up.

"We should probably go to our lockers," Cloud pointed out.

"Yeah." They both silently agreed.

Their lockers were spread out along the long hallway. Cloud and Aeris were seniors now, but Yuffie was a junior – she _should _have been a senior, but got held back in kindergarten because all of her teachers agreed she wasn't mature enough to move on to the next grade – so Yuffie was at the very end of the hallway, while they were at the other end. Cloud's and Aeris ' weren't too close either.

He stopped at his locker, and signaled for Aeris to stay.

"What's your schedule?" He asked, glancing at the numbers scribbled on his hand.

"Biology first."

"Same here," he input the first number.

"French second."

"Latin," second number.

"Civil history third."

"Oh, I got into psychology," he put in the final number and pulled the lock up, the door swung open.

"Then choir."

"Figures," he hung his messenger bag up and pulled the few supplies out.

"Cloud, If you don't stop interrupting me—"

"Sorry," he interrupted unintentionally.

She grumbled something under breath and walked off. He finished unpacking his things, took what he figured he'd need and headed off in the opposite direction to room 414, the Biology room. On either side of him he could hear girls saying things like _'Is that _Cloud Strifeand_'look at Cloud!' _He guessed his newly acquired muscles were more tangible then he originally thought them to be. Or maybe the polo _did _look good on him.

He wasn't sure if he should ignore them or go up and hit on them. Either way it didn't matter because his eyes found the one person he had been looking for.

"Tifa!" He called excitedly.

She wheeled around. "Cloud," she beamed.

He rushed to her and hugged her. "Its great to see you."

"Its great to see you, too!" She gently pulled out of his embrace to get a better look at him. "You look good, I like your shirt… Were you working out while you dropped off of the face of the planet?"

He laughed at her jab. "I got a job and an apartment—well I got the _job _to pay for the _apartment. _But thanks, you look good, too." She had gotten her haircut since he saw her last, which reminded him he needed to get _his _cut.

"Thank you," she giggled. "So you're a working man now, eh?"

He shrugged. "Not anymore. It was more of a summer thing. I built up some muscle doing it."

"And are you going to keep me in suspense over what this mystery job was?"

"Oh, sorry." Golf instructor at the country club."

Tifa looked a little taken aback, but impressed nonetheless. "Wow. That's quite an accomplishment. How'd you land the job?"

"Cid had some connections. He set up their sprinkler system a couple years ago. He put in a few good words."

"I didn't know you played golf."

"To be honest, neither did I." They both laughed and Cloud looked away from her, only to see deserted hallways.

"_Shit._" He groaned. "Late on the first day. I'll talk to you later!"

"Bye!" And with that they both hurried off in separate directions.

The bell hadn't rung, and that worried him. If there was no bell he'd surely be late to every class. That feeling added to the butterflies in his stomach from talking to Tifa and the first-day-back nerves that _still_hadn't dissipated made him feel a little dizzy. His head pounded as he slowly and rather unsteadily made his way to class.

He closed his eyes, took a breath and placed his hand on the doorknob. The cool metal _should have _helped to dispel his jitters, but it only made him aware of how hot his hands were. His sapphire eyes fluttered open as he pushed the door open and took a step into the room.

"Well hello there! Thank you for joining us Mr.…" Cloud glanced at the kid standing behind the teacher's desk.

"Strife. Cloud Strife," he said uncertainly.

"Mr. Strife. Do you mind if I call you Cloud? I'm guessing you don't. But even if you do, what can you do about it? You can bring it up to the school board. I can get you a lawyer, too. I know a few good ones. I tend to piss people off, you see…"

Cloud laughed. "And what can I call you? Sir."

"You can call me Reno. We don't have any cameras in here. But when we've got visitors its _Mr. _Reno." He lifted his aquamarine gaze from Cloud and turned to address the entire class. "That goes for you guys, too. I'm only a few years older then all of you – I don't know how the hell I got into teaching – so it'd be weird to use formal names. Sit down kid." He said to Cloud as he walked to the white board. "Now I realize what I just said is contradicting, and that's the beauty of science – it makes no sense!"

Cloud scanned the room for a split second. It was divided into three rows of four two-person blacktop desks. Aeris was sitting by herself in the last desk on the right. He took the stool beside her as Reno made some joke about theory of relativity. He couldn't help but wonder if the guy was a legit teacher or if he was just some student pulling a prank. He looked about twenty-two, and the messy, pony tailed ginger hair, too long slacks, untucked long sleeve shirt and wrinkled sports jacket only added to that factor. But he did seem to know what he was talking about.

"Why were you late?" Aeris whispered, her eyes glued to the front board.

"Talking to Tifa. Kinda… lost track of time." He replied quietly, doing the same.

"Cloud, will you recite the theory for us?" Reno called out.

"Uh. Theory of what?" He asked stupidly.

"Relativity."

"Well." He racked his brain for it, but found nothing. Suddenly he had a fleeting idea of what it was and began blindly. "Human reason has this peculiar fate that in one species of its knowledge it is burdened by questions which, as prescribed by the very nature of reason itself it is not able to ignore, but which, transcending all of its powers, it is also not able to answer."

Silence.

"I have no idea what you just said." Reno raised an eyebrow. "You must have been speaking Kant."

The students laughed simultaneously and Cloud felt his face burn, but he laughed with them. He rocked his stool back and forth when – whack! He went to far forward and it refused to go back, sending him to the ground. His head was the first part of his body to make contact with the hard tile floor. He lay there for a minute, unsure of what happened before sitting up and bringing a hand to the throbbing area.

"Damn."

"Cloud!" In the blink of an eye Aeris was by his side.

"Someone take him to the infirmary," Reno commanded.

"Damn," he repeated. "That hurt." Dull pain pulsed through the back of his head on beat with his heart.

She took his hand and gingerly helped him up. She wrapped her arm around his waist and helped him out of the room."

"God Aeris. I'm fine. I can walk by myself."

"You fell out of a stationary chair! I think there _must _be something wrong."

"Nothings wrong! And I was moving the _stool!_" He protested.

"And you still managed to fall out of it!"

"Because it was moving and has no back!"

"Cloud… You just hit your head pretty hard. Just let me help you out."

"Fine." He spat, temporarily giving into submissiveness. He let Aeris lead him to the end of the corridor, up a flight of stairs and down a few hallways until they reached a small clinic, which was tucked away in a corner of the old school.

The infirmary consisted of three rooms. First was the waiting area, where the nurse's desk was and where sick students without cars waited for their parents to come pick them up. The second room was slightly larger and had four military-style cots where the _really sick _kids would stay and the final room was a small pantry of assorted medicines and remedies.

With Aeris' help Cloud limped into the waiting room.

"Oh dear!" Called the nurse young brunette nurse, crossing to him. "What happened?"

"He fell out of his chair in science. Hit his head pretty hard."

"It was a stool, dammit!"

"He looks a little out of it." The nurse replied, ignoring his remark. "Here honey, go lay him down in that room over there." She gestured to the second room.

"Yes ma'am." Aeris kicked Cloud harmlessly to make him walk forward. He obliged, and took a seat on the closest cot.

"You can go now Aeris."

She sighed but walked out of the room. The nurse hurried through to the medicine cabinet. Cloud looked around and to his surprise saw there was another person in there. His back was to him but Cloud had an idea of who it was. Squall Leonhart. Him and Squall had been in school together for as long as he could remember but he had never really talked to him much before. He seemed like a nice enough guy, but they never had many classes together. He figured that as long as they were both stuck here he might as well make some conversation.

"Squall?"

"Nurse Yuna?" He groaned through gritted teeth.

"Uh, no. It's Cloud. Cloud Strife. You _remember me right?_" He asked uncertainly, not sure if remember was the right word.

"Yeah, of course." Squall laughed but it was more of a painful sounding hack then a laugh. "We've only been in school together since we first enrolled."

"You're right, but we've never… really… _talked _before."

"You've got a point there. So, what are you doing here?"

Squall inhaled deeply and with many grunts of pain turned himself over so he was facing Cloud. There was blood. Too much blood. He couldn't tell where it was coming from until he was able to spot a wide, long gash running from his mid-forehead to just below his left eye.

"Holy hell." All of a sudden Cloud's head felt a hell of a lot better. "What… happened?"

"Well, I was getting out of my car when Seifer comes up to me and starts pushing me. He was saying something like 'you have the nerve to steal my girl, break up with her, and then show up at _my _school?'" Cloud caught a glimpse of Squall straightening his posture involuntarily, and his shoulders tense as if he had given away too much information.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." Reverse psychology.

"I know… I thought he was drunk so I just ignored him, but then he puts his hand on my shoulder, turns me around and socks me in the gut, knocked the wind out of me too. Well I'm just standing there trying to catch my breath when he pulls out a knife and takes a swing at me. I grab his hand and throw it back. Dipshit cuts _himself. _But he did it again, about two seconds later... And that's how I ended up here," he paused. "I'm sure where he went, now that I think about it. What about you?"

"Fell out of my seat." Cloud said simply.

Squall laughed.

"Hey I was in the science room – they have stools, not seats!"

"I wouldn't know. I haven't been in there yet. It is my first period, though."

"It seems… _fun. _The teachers some red-headed guy who's about as old as us."

"Reno?"

"Yeah. How do you know him?"

"He worked at my boxing school. I remember once it started to loose business he was trying to get a teaching job. It closed last year."

"I wasn't in there long, but it seemed like a great job for him. He knew what he was talking about," Cloud offered. "So is this his first year?"

"Yeah, I think so. And yes, he's very smart. But his arrogance outweighs hit wits."

Suddenly Nurse Yuna burst back into the room. "Oops." She chuckled nervously. "The door opened faster then I thought it would." She smiled kindly and Cloud noticed her one blue and one green eye. And the small jar in her hand.

"Ok Squall, this is numbing cream. It'll take a few minutes to work. Then I'll stitch you right up. In the meantime I'll take care of you…"

"Cloud."

"Cloud," she repeated. "You just hit your head, right?"

He nodded.

"Well, I'll give you an ice pack, and assuming you're over eighteen something to help with the pain."

"Yeah." He nodded again. "I'm eighteen."

"Okay, I'll get your medicine in just a moment." She turned to Squall, pulled several oversized cotton swabs out of a small dispenser on a shelf above him and opened the jar, after slipping on a pair of latex gloves.

Cloud looked away as Squall began to grit his teeth in pain. Yuna finished up relatively quickly and peeled off her gloves. She turned to Cloud again.

"Are you okay to walk?"

"Of course I am," he lied. He lifted himself and stood on unsteady legs.

"Under my desk there's a tiny little refrigerator full of mini water bottles. Go get one."

"All right." He staggered into the room as Yuna took yet another trip to the medicine cabinet. Cloud got the water and returned to the cot, where she was waiting. She dropped three small pills into his hand.

"You look pretty young. What are you doing as a school nurse?" Cloud asked, _honestly_interested as he unscrewed the cap, took a swig of the cold water and popped the pills into his mouth.

"Oh." She giggled and an infusion of pink tinged her cheeks. "I'm trying to earn my PhD – obviously as a doctor – and they recently added the requirement of 500 hours of clinic-type volunteer duty. This was the only thing I could think of."

"500 hours?" He whistled. "That's a _long _time."

"Tell me about it."

"Well at least you'll be here all year," he smiled.

She laughed and smiled too. "If you two will excuse me, the cabinet isn't fully stocked quite yet so I'm going to go check and see if we have any stitch strings in the front office. If anyone else comes in just have them sit down." And then she was gone.

"That was subtle," Squall quipped.

"She was hot."

"She's at least seven years older then you."

"She's _hot._"

"Tell me Cloud, do you get off on pedophilia?"

Cloud laughed and flipped his hair out of his eyes. He glanced at Squall.

"How can you stand to have your hair so long? Mines bugging the hell out of me."

Squall let out a low chuckle. "I normally keep mine about an inch shorter. I haven't had time to get it cut lately. Thanks for reminding me."

"No problem. So… Boxing?"

Squall's blue-gray eyes danced at the mention of the sport. "Yeah. I did some boxing when I was younger. But the only school around here closed down, like I said earlier."

"I think my gym has boxing."

"Seriously? Which gym do you go to?"

"Westminster-Scott, off of I-318."

"I've heard of it. I'll have to check it out."

"Its great, right by my apartment."

Squall bit his lip and inwardly cursed himself. "Dammit!" He seethed.

"What?"

"The lease on my apartment is up. And I'm broke."

Cloud was quiet for a moment, mentally contemplating what he could do.

'_I can tell him I have an extra room in _my _apartment.'_

'_But I hardly know him. He might be some type of psychopath.'_

'_But I've known him since we were toddlers.'_

'_But this was the first time I ever really talked to him.'_

'_He seems like a nice enough guy.'_

'_But I bet Jack The Ripper seemed like a nice guy.'_

'_I bet Jack The Ripper _was _a nice guy. Aside from the murders.'_

"Cloud?" Squall's deep voice pulled him out of his argument with himself, still undecided on what he should do.

"Sorry," he muttered. "I was thinking."

"What about?"

He sighed and started to talk, half-aware of what he was saying. "I've got an extra bedroom in my apartment. The space was a bit bigger then I thought it was and I don't use all of the rooms. It has its own bathroom. You can… Check it out if you want to. Rent would be pretty low."

Squall smiled slightly. "Thanks. That sounds good. I think at this point I'll just move in today. Hopefully the repo-man hasn't gotten a hold of my things yet."

Cloud laughed. "I'll give you the address later."

He couldn't contain his smile as Squall went on about what an ass his tenant was. Squall moving in would be great. Cloud felt a little immature as he realized he might finally get the brother he never had. The one he had always wanted. Maybe Squall could cook and Cloud could finally have something else besides Starbucks, and cold sandwiches from the deli across the street.

And maybe he could get some advice about Tifa and Aeris.

* * *

I apologize if the ending feels a little rushed because thats how it seems to me...

But WOW. This is the longest thing I've ever written so please review!

(Title, description, chapter name and opening quote is from Maroon 5's Must Get Out. Lovely song.)


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